Vise.



PATENTED SEPT. 8, 1908.

W. A. MERRALLS.

VISE.

FILE

INVENTQR} ATTORNEY.

WITNESSES: 4%. /M/? 74.

PATENTED SEPT. 8, 1908.

W. A. MERRALLS.

VISE.

APPLIGATION'IILED OOT.3, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W N M WITNESSES INVENTOR,

A TTORNE Y.

, at present tion;

-another person to screw it u to hold it in its WILLIAM A. MERRALLS, OFSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

VISE

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 8, 1908.

Application filed. October a, 1907. Serial No. 395,719.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. MER- nALLs, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residmg at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco andState of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in X1868,of which the following is a specifica- This invention relates to workshovises, for benches, lathes, or the like, the ohject of the lnventionbeing to provide an appliance of this character, which shall always beopen and ready for use, and which shall be more convenient and rapid inoperation and durable in use than vises heretofore employed.

In using a workshop vise of the character generally constructed, theworkman first screws 0 en the vise to a suflicient distance to insert te piece of metal to be operated upon, he then inserts the metal pieceand then, while holding it in place, he screws up again the vise toclamp the piece therein' I saidiece 1s too heavy to hold with one' hand,t e operator has to screw u the vise with his knee, or to obtain theassistance 'of while he is holdmg And even when t e piece can be held mone hand, it is a troublesome matter proper position while clam mg wlththe other. Again, considerable tnnels thus wasted in unscrewing andscrewlng up again the vise. Also, in time the vise glves-trouble onaccount of the screw wearing oose.

The object of the present invention is to provlde a vise free from theabove objections. In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1.is

a perspective view showing the vise in opera- 1g. 2 is a lan view; Fig.3 is a longi-v tudmal section; ig. 4 is a cross section on the hne 4-4of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a cross section on i the line 55 ofFig. 3; Fig. 6is an enlarged sectional view of the three way valve.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates the mam castin or body of thevise, comprising an outer .wah 2 which may be of any suitable contour,an inner wall 3, the inner surface of which is accurately cylindrical, acentral verinner wall with the bottom of the outer wall, and walls 6 and5 formin with the vertical wall 4, two conduits 7, 8,Ieading to op'osite ends of the cylinder. The inner an outer Walls 2, 3, and thepartition 4 thus form three chambers, a cylindrical chamber 9, a highpressure chamber 10 on one side of the vertitical partition 4 connectingthe bottom of the cal partition 4, and a low pressure chamber 11 on theother side thereof. All of these chambers are closed at the rear by acover plate or head 12 suitably secured to the main ody of the vise. Thechamber 10 is connected with the cylindrical chamber 9 at one end ofsaid cylinder by the conduit 7 and the chamber 11 is connected with theother end of the cylinder by the conduit 8, both of said conduitsopening into their respective chambers 10, 11, near the bottom thereof.Through a stufling boX 13 at the outer end of the cylinder slides therod 14 of a piston 15, and the outer end of said rod is attached to aslidable jaw 16, which and a fixed jaw 17 constitute the jaws of thevise. The movable jaw 16 slides upon a bracket or outward extension 18from the body of the apparatus, and can be clamped at any desiredposition by means of a drop handle nut 19 upon a screw 20 secured to themovable jaw and sliding in a slot 21 in said bracket. 7

v The chamber 10, which communicates with the end of the cylindernearest to the jaws of the vise, is connected with a source of su ply ofhigh pressure fluid, this connection heing made by means of a pipe 22,and similarly the other chamber 11, whicl is connected to the rear orfarthest end of the cylinder, is connected by means of a pipe 23,

having a pressure gage 24 therein, with a ipe 25 leading to the pipe 22,and controlled hy means of a valve 26. A three way valve 27 controls thepipe 22 and connects the chamber 10 either with the pressure fluid orwith exhaust, as desired. The valve 27 is operated by means of a lever28 and a rod 29,

connected with a balanced foot lever 30, so

that by pressure upon one or the other end of said lever 30 the valvecan be turned to one of the two positions, opening the chamber 10 topressure or exhaust, as desired. Oil is placed in each of the chambers10, 11, of sufficient quantity that, when the iston is at itsfarthestdistance from the con uit leading to either pressure chamber, sothat the whole of the'intervening portion of the cylinder is filled withoil, there is still suflicient oil at the bottom of said chamber tocover the bottom of said conduit, so that air or other pressure fluidcannot escape into the cylinder from said conduit. In the high pressurechamber 10, the pressure is such that by means of the piston suflicientpressure will be given to the movable aw towards the fixed jaw toproperly hold an object in the device, while the when the pressure inthe high pressure chamber has been withdrawn.

The mode of operation of the device isthe movable aw is extendedoutwards as far" as possible, there being at that time no ressure in thehigh pressure chamber an the pressure in the low pressure chamber beingsuflicient as indicated by the gage to move the movable jaw outwards bythe back pressure on the piston. When an operator wishes to clamp anobject between said jaws, by means ofthe foot lever 30 he turns thevalve 27 to connect the high pressure chamber 10 with the pipe 22.Through the oil in the high pressure chamber force is thereby impartedto the face of the piston next to the movable jaw to move sa1d pistoninwards, clamping the object in the vise. The oil rises from the chamber10 by the conduit 7 to the cylinder and fills the outer end of thecylinder at the same time that the oil flows out from the other end ofsaid cylinder through the conduit 8 intothe low pressure chamber 11.When the o erator desires to release the object clampe he reverses thevalve 27, which shuts ofl the high pressure fluid and opens the chamber10 to exhaust, reducing the pressure therein to atmospheric pressure,whereupon the pressure in the low pressure chamber causes the piston toagain move outwards. The gage 24 enables a constant low pressure to bemaintained in the low pressure chamber, for if at any time said pressureshould fall below a pre-determined magnitude, pressure fluid can beadmitted thereinto by means of the valve 26 to raise the pressure in thelow pressure chamber to said magnitude.

I claimz- 1. A vise comprising jaws, a cylinder, a piston for saidcylinder, a piston rod connected therewith and also with one of the aws,means for admitting pressure fluid into an end of the cylinder to movesaid latter aw toward the other to clamp an object in the vise, or tothe other end of the cylinder to' move said jaw in the reverse directionto release said object, and a foot lever operatively connected to saidmeans and arranged to be moved by a downward pressure into one positionto admit said fluid into one end of the cylinder, and to be so movedinto another position to admit it into the other end thereof,substantially as described.

i 2. A vise comprising jaws, a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, apiston rod connected therewith, and also with one of said jaws, athree-way valve arranged in one position to ermit pressure fluid into anend of said cyllnder to move said jaw, and in another position to permitthe escape of said fluid from said end, and a foot lever operativelycon- .nected with saidlvalve, substantially as de' scribed.

3. A vise com rising jaws, a cylinder, a piston for saidcy mder, a istonrod connected therewith and also wit one of said jaws, a valve foradmitting pressure fluid into an end of said cylinder to move said jaw,and a foot lever operatively connected to said valve, and arranged to bemoved by a downward pressure of the foot thereon into a position to opensaid valve and admit said fluid into said end, and also to be moved by adownward pressure of the foot into another position to close said valveand permit said uid to escape from said end, substantially as described.

4. A vise com rising jaws, a cylinder, a piston for said cy inder, apiston rod connected therewith and also with one of said jaws, athree-way valve for admitting pressure fluid .into an end cylinder tomove said jaw, and a foot lever operatively connected to said valve, andarranged to be moved by a downward pressure of the foot thereon into aposition to open said valve and admit said fluid into'saidend, and alsoto be moved by a downward pressure of the foot into another position toclose said valve and permit said uid to escape from said end,substantially as described.

5. In a vise, the combination of jaws, a cylinder, a piston in saidcylinder, a iston rod connected with said iston and a so to one of saidjaws, high and ow pressure chambers, means for connecting the highpressure chamber with high pressure fluid, and conduits leading toopposite ends of the cylinder from the respective chambers,substantially as described.

6. In a vise, the combination of jaws, a cylinder, a piston in saidcylinder, a iston rod connected with said iston and a so to one of saidjaws, high and ow pressure chambers, means for connecting the highpressure chamber with high pressure fluid, conduits leading to oppositeends of the cylinder from the respective chambers, means .forcontrolling sa1d conduits, andfa foot lever operatively connected withsaid controlling means, and arranged to be moved by a downward pressureinto one position to open one of sa1d conduits and close the other, andto be so moved into another position to close the first conduit and openthe second, substantially as described.

7. In a vise, the combination of jaws, a-

piston and operatively con-- 8. In a vise, the combination of jaws, a Intestimony whereof I have hereunto set cylinder, a piston therein, aiston rod conmy hand in the presence of two subscribing 10 neotedthereprithdand also Wlth 0mg of said Witnesses. jaws, means or a mittinressure uid into 5 said cylinder, and ,auxi a i y means for ad- WILLIAMMERRALLS justably holding said latter j aw at any point Witnesses:desired of its movement, substantially as de- FRANCIS M. WRIGHT,scribed. D. B. RICHARDS.

